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Phyllis Webb
by George J. Dance | birth_place = Victoria, British Columbia | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = poet, radio broadcaster | language = English | nationality = Canadian | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | period = | genre = poetry | subject = | movement = | notableworks = The Vision Tree | spouse = | partner = | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = Governor Generals Award, Officer of the Order of Canada | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = }} Phyllis Webb OC (born April 8, 1927) is a Canadian poet and radio broadcaster. Life Youth and education Webb was born in Victoria, British Columbia. She attended the University of British Columbia and McGill University. In 1949 she ran as a candidate for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the youngest person to do so. Career Her poetry was published in 1954 in Trio, an anthology of poems by Eli Mandel, Gael Turnbull, and Webb published by Raymond Souster's Contact Press."Phyllis Webb," Canadian Women Poets, BrockU.ca, Web, Apr. 12, 2011 In 1957 Webb won a grant that allowed her to study theatre in France. Webb has worked as a writer and broadcaster for the CBC, where in 1965 she created, with William A. Young, the radio program Ideas. From 1967 to 1969, Webb was its executive producer. In 1967, she traveled to the Soviet Union, carrying out research on the Russian Revolution of 1917 and on anarchist Peter Kropotkin, much of which appears in her serial poem "The Kropotkin Poems". Webb has taught creative writing at the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria, and the Banff Centre, and was writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta 1980-1981. Webb lives on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. At 65 she stopped writing and publishing poetry, a fact she explains by saying that "words abandoned me".Stephen Collis, "Phyllis Webb at 85," Jacket, June 18, 2012. Web, Apr. 17, 2015. Writing The Canadian Encyclopedia describes her as "a writer of stature in Canadian letters," and calls her work "brilliantly crafted, formal in its energies and humane in its concern."Sharon Thesen, "Webb, Phyllis," Canadian Encyclopedia, (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988), 2288. Douglas Barbour: "Naked Poems by Phyllis Webb (1965), is one of the most influential works of its time, for it suggested a new vision of the book-length poem which profoundly affected a number of poets in the following literary generations. Full of lyric intensity yet transcending mere lyric posturing, Naked Poems is Canada's first masterpiece of process poetics, a series of precisely crafted minimal texts which remain open to the possibilities of what the third section calls the 'Non Linear.'"Douglas Barbour, " Naked Poems," Canadian Encyclopedia. April 23, 2014. Web, Sep. 24, 2019. Recognition In 1972 Webb was awarded a prize of $2,300 by fellow Canadian poets in recognition of her book Wilson's Bowl, which was overlooked for a Governor General's Award nomination that year; "the letter accompanying the prize money stated that 'this gesture is a response to your whole body of work as well as to your presence as a touchstone of true good writing in Canada, which we all know is beyond awards and prizes.'" Webb won the Governor General's Award for English language poetry in 1982 for The Vision Tree. She won Canada Council Senior Arts Awards in 1981 and 1987. She became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1992. Publications Poetry *''Trio: First poems by Gael Turnbull, Phyllis Webb, and Eli Mandel.'' Toronto: Contact Press, 1954. *''Even Your Right Eye.'' Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1956. *''In a Garden of the Pitti Palace / A Pang cantata: 2 new poems.'' Vancouver: Pica Press, 1961. *''The Sea is Also a Garden: Poems.'' Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1962. *''Naked Poems.'' Vancouver: Periwinkle Press, 1965. *''Selected Poems, 1954-1965'' (edited by John Hulcoop). Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1971. *''For Fyodor.'' Toronto: M. Ondaatje, 1973. *''Broadside Poems.'' Vancouver, British Columbia: Slug Press, 1979-1982. *''Wilson's Bowl.'' Toronto: Coach House , 1980. *''The Bowl.'' Lantzville, BC: Island Magazine, 1981. *''Selected Broadsides.'' Charlottetown, PEI.: Island Magazine, 1981-1982. *''Talking.'' Dunvegan, ON.: Quadrant Editions, 1982. *''Sunday Water: Thirteen Anti-Ghazals.'' Lantzville, BC: Island Writing Series, 1982. *''Prison Report.'' Vancouver: Slug Press, 1982. *''Selected Poems: The vision tree'' (edited by Sharon Thesen). Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1982. *''Water and Light: Ghazals and anti-ghazals: Poems.'' Toronto: Coach House, 1984. *''Eschatology of Spring.'' Salt Spring Island, BC: Salt Spring Island Voice of Women, 1984. *''Pepper Tree: For Breyten Breytenbach.'' Toronto: Imprimerie dromadaire, 1986. *''Nine Poets Printed = 9 poets printed.'' Toronto: Imprimerie dromadaire, 1986-1988. *''Hanging Fire.'' Toronto: Coach House, 1990. *''Grape Vine.'' Vancouver: Slug Press, 1992. *''Seeing in the Dark: The poetry of Phyllis Webb.'' (edited by Pauline Butling). Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1997. *''Four Swans in Fulford Harbour.'' Salt Spring Island, BC: (m)Other Tongue Press, 1999. Non-fiction *''Nothing but Brush Strokes: Selected prose.'' Edmonton, AL: NeWest Press, 1995. *"Radio Talks: From the Phyllis Webb papers, National Library." West Coast Line 25.3 (1991): 95-102. Edited *''The Griffin Poetry Prize Anthology: A selection of the 2004 shortlist.'' Toronto: Anansi, 2004. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy Brock University. Audio / video *''Alex'' sound. Toronto: CBC Pub., 1966. *''Canadian Poets I'' sound. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1966. *''Phyllis Webb: The Question as an Instrument of Torture.'' sound Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1971. *''Phyllis Webb: Poetry and Psychobiography.'' sound 1993. *''Fall Equinox Reading at the Literary Storefront.'' Tape #4, Mona Fertig, Phyllis Webb, David Frith, Robert Tyhurst & Lakshmi Gill. sound Vancouver: s.n., 1981. *''Phyllis Webb.'' video Burnaby, BC: SFU Art Gallery, 1981. Except where noted, discographical information courtesy Brock University. See also *British Columbia poets *List of Canadian poets *Timeline of Canadian poetry References Books *Collis, Steve. Phyllis Webb and the Common Good: Poetry, anarchy, abstraction. Vancouver, BC: Talonbooks, 2007. Articles *Cash, Gwen. “Portrait of a Poet: Victoria's Phyllis Webb.” B.C. Magazine 6 April 1957: 17. *Fagan, Cary. “The Articulate Anger of Phyllis Webb.” Books In Canada 20.1 (1991): 21-23. *Frey, Cecelia. “Phyllis Webb: An Annotated Bibliography.” The Annotated Bibliography of Canada's Major Authors. Eds. Robert Lecker and Jack David. Vol.6. Toronto: ECW, 1985. 489-98. *Hulcoop, John. “Phyllis Webb and the Priestess of Motion.” Canadian Literature 32 (1967): 29-39. *Smaro Kamboureli, “Seeking Shape, Seeking Meaning: An interview with Phyllis Webb.” West Coast Line 25.3 (1991): 21-41. *Knight, Lorna. “Oh for the Carp of a Critic: Research in the Phyllis Webb Papers.” West Coast Line 26.2 (1992): 120-127. *Macfarlane, Julian. Rev. of Selected Poems, by Phyllis Webb. The Capilano Review 1 (1972): 53-58. *Munton, Ann. “Excerpt from an Interview with Phyllis Webb.” West Coast Line 25.3 (1991): 81-85. *Potvin, Liza. "Phyllis Webb: The Voice That Breaks" *Sejur, Leila. “Addressing a Presence: An Interview with Phyllis Webb.” Prairie Fire 9.1 (1988): 30-43. Notes External links ;Poems *"Patience" - poem and analysis at HelenHeath.com ;Audio / video *Phyllis Webb at SGWU 1966 (audio) *Phyllis Webb at YouTube ;Books *Phyllis Webb at Amazon.com *Phyllis Webb at Canadian Women Poets. ;About *Phyllis Webb at Talonbooks *Phyllis Webb (1927- ), One Zero Zero Library *Phyllis Webb in the Canadian Encyclopedia *"Phyllis Webb: The Voice that Breaks", Canadian Poetry Category:1927 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century poets Category:Canadian modernist poets Category:Canadian women writers Category:Governor General's Award winning poets Category:Officers of the Order of Canada Category:Women poets Category:Canadian poets Category:Poets Category:20th-century women writers Category:English-language poets Category:British Columbia poets